Shahnawaz Hussain too gets a berth
After more than two months of intense bargaining between the Janata Dal (U) and the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday carried out the expansion of his Cabinet and showed that despite having fewer seats than the BJP, he still calls the shot in the alliance Government.
Governor Phagu Chouhan administered the oath of office to the new Ministers — nine from the BJP and eight from the JD(U) — at a function at the Raj Bhavan.
Neeraj Kumar Babloo JD(U), who is a five-time MLA from Chhatapur and a relative of deceased Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, also joined the Nitish Cabinet.
Of the 17 Ministers inducted on Tuesday, the BJP got nine berths, just one more than the JD(U). The JD(U) also grabbed important portfolios like Home, Personnel, Education, Rural Development, Rural Works, Water Resources.
Nitish ensured that his bitter detractor Sanjay Paswan (BJP) was denied a Cabinet berth along with Nitish Mishra, who had deserted the JD(U) to join hands with Jitan Ram Manjhi and later the BJP.
Former Union Minster Shahnawaz Hussain, who was in the political wilderness for years, staged a comeback by finding a place in the Cabinet as Industry Minister.
The JD(U) too inducted a Muslim MLA Jama Khan, who joined JD(U) after getting elected as a BSP legislator from Chainpur. The JD(U) had fielded 11 Muslim candidates in the 2020 Assembly elections, but all of them lost.
However, Nitish didn’t induct even a single Yadav MLA this time around. Of his 13 Ministers, just one comes from the Yadav caste. Nitish also completely ignored the Bhumihar caste in the expansion and inducted
In the Assembly polls, the BJP won 74 seats and the JD(U) just 43. After the polls, State BJP leaders were putting pressure on the national leadership to corner a maximum number of berths. But Nitish made sure that his party is not seen surrendering to the BJP.
The BJP has now 16 ministerial berths and JD(U) 13, but Nitish’s party has grabbed 21 portfolios, just one less than 22 of the BJP.
Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and the Vikassheel Insaan Party of the Mukesh Sahni has got one berth each.
Hussain — the biggest name in the new batch of 17 Ministers — was given the industry portfolio in a State that hardly has any industry. Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi was given the disaster management portfolio.
From the JD(U) those who got ministerial berths include old guards such as Shrawan Kumar, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Madan Sahni, and Lessi Singh as well as new faces such as Jayant Raj (MLA from Amarpur in Banka district); former police official Sunil Kumar (Bhore MLA); Sumit Singh, who had won as an Independent from Chakai in Jamui district but later joined the party; and Jama Khan, who was elected on the BSP ticket from Chainpur in Kaimur district but later joined the JD(U).
The BJP list of Ministers is as follow, Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP MLC), Pramod Kumar (BJP MLA, Motihari), Samrat Chaudhary (BJP MLC), Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu (BJP MLA, Chhatapur), Subash Singh (BJP MLA, Gopalganj), Nitin Nabin (BJP MLA, Bankipur), Sumit Kumar Singh (Independent MLA, Chakai), Narayan Prasad (BJP MLA, Nautan), Alok Ranjan (BJP MLA, Saharsa), Janak Ram (BJP).
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 | PNS | Patna
